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- Jul 1, 2012
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I've heard some discussion about low temperature tempers so I thought I'd come to you with a question since you used the phrase in a recent post.
Doesn't a lower temperature temper leave the steel harder? Isn't hardness a tradeoff with toughness? Doesn't a higher temperature temper give lower hardness but more toughness?
The only way this makes sense to me is if the quench is also modified to achieve a lower hardness through less conversion to martensite. That way you'd be tempering from a less hard condition and you could use a lower tempering temperature. Doesn't this also give more retained austenite? Can you cryogenically treat that retained austenite and recover the desired hardness?
Thanks!
Doesn't a lower temperature temper leave the steel harder? Isn't hardness a tradeoff with toughness? Doesn't a higher temperature temper give lower hardness but more toughness?
The only way this makes sense to me is if the quench is also modified to achieve a lower hardness through less conversion to martensite. That way you'd be tempering from a less hard condition and you could use a lower tempering temperature. Doesn't this also give more retained austenite? Can you cryogenically treat that retained austenite and recover the desired hardness?
Thanks!